Betty Rollin
Encyclopedia
Betty Rollin has been an NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...

 correspondent and author.

Rollin's reports have won both the DuPont and Emmy awards. She now contributes reports for PBS's Religion and Ethics News Weekly.

Rollin was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1975, and again in 1984, each time losing a breast to the disease. Rollin discussed her battle with cancer publicly and wrote about her struggle with cancer in the book, First, You Cry. to encourage public awareness and to give encouragement to others facing this disease. First, You Cry was made into a television movie starring Mary Tyler Moore as Rollin.

Rollin's mother Ida was diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Symptoms are frequently very subtle early on and may include: bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and frequent urination, and are easily confused with other illnesses....

 in 1981, and Rollin helped her mother end her life in 1983. She revealed this in her book Last Wish, published in 1985 and republished in 1998. One critic called it "a document of personal compassion and public importance." The book has been published in 19 countries and was made into a TV movie in 1992 starring Patty Duke as Rollin.

Since the book was published, Rollin has been active in the Death with Dignity movement. She is now on the board of the Death with Dignity National Center. Rollin was criticized in certain quarters by those who oppose hastened death
Assisted suicide
Assisted suicide is the common term for actions by which an individual helps another person voluntarily bring about his or her own death. "Assistance" may mean providing one with the means to end one's own life, but may extend to other actions. It differs to euthanasia where another person ends...

.

She and her husband, mathematician Dr. Harold Edwards
Harold Edwards (mathematician)
Harold Mortimer Edwards, Jr. is an American mathematician working in number theory, algebra, and the history and philosophy of mathematics....

, live in Manhattan. They have no children.

Books

  • First, You Cry (1976) ISBN 0-06-095630-5
  • Last Wish (1985) ISBN 1-891620-01-0
  • Am I Getting Paid for This?: A Romance About Work (1986) ISBN 0-451-14442-2
  • Here's the Bright Side: Of Failure, Fear, Cancer, Divorce, and Other Bum Raps (2007) ISBN 978-1400065653

See also

  • Betty Rollin website
  • Death with Dignity National Center
    Death with Dignity National Center
    Death with Dignity National Center is a nonprofit organization located in Portland, Oregon which has led the defense of and education about Death with Dignity laws throughout the US...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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